Heart failure is a lifelong condition that affects approximately 5 million people in the United States. Heart failure patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and combined conduction defects such as 1st atrio-ventricular block, left bundle branch block (LBBB), right blundle branch block (RBBB) or intraventricular conduction defects (IVCD) typically demonstrate significant asynchrony between right-ventricle and left-ventricle contraction patterns. The right-ventricle and left-ventricle asynchrony represents a mismatch between right atrio-ventricular and left atrio-ventricular timing indices. The mismatched timing indices typically leads to poor ventricular filling, fusion of atrio-ventricular valve flow characteristics (fusion of E and A waves), increased potential of mitral or tricuspid blood flow regurgitation, and hemodynamic deterioration.
Previous drug treatments for heart failure
Previous multi-site pacing therapies for heart failure involve left-ventricular pacing or bi-ventricular pacing.
For the foregoing reasons, a new approach to regulating atrio-ventricular delay for multi-site pacing is needed.